Sometimes I open my mouth before thinking things through. Quite often actually. This is precisely what happened on Australia Day when I was talking to the Dexter cattle people at the Highfields Pioneer Village. They said to me wouldn’t it be great to be able to have a site at Farmfest. “Yes”, I said, “I may be able to make that happen.” So I did.
And slowly it dawned on me that the logistics and financial costs were both quite substantial. The Rare Breeds Trust agreed to pay the significantly reduced fee I had negotiated with Farmfest but I would be responsible for the transportation of the stock, theirs and my feed bill for the duration of the event, which ends up being five days.
Bump in on Monday and Bump out on Friday! A week off work. Camping in the cold! Meals etc. And then the Dexter people dropped out. I think they figured the same thing. So now it’s me, myself, and I. Dear Richie will have to take Monday and Friday off work to tow the camper trailer down and back. Plus I guess I will need a marquee of some description. I’m not sure what will happen if it rains.
Who let the dogs out? It was Dear Richie, only not so dear at this moment in time. Some cottage guests arrived with a very precious female Staffy. They advised that she was on heat. Additionally, some friends had gone on holidays and dropped off their three dogs here at the last minute, doubling the canine complement with my three hounds.
It takes a bit of organisation to feed and exercise them. Add to that the fact that two of the hounds are entire males, it takes a lot of organisation! So I arrived home to chaos on Tuesday night. The guests were trying to chase Pee and Polo away from their bitch while my friend’s bitch was running madly around. In the blink of an eye it grabbed a chook and took off. We all heard the snap of the poor bird’s neck. Dear Richie was nowhere in sight. I managed to catch and lock up all the dogs, fortunately before they managed to service the pedigree Staffy, and grabbed the dead chook, apologising profusely to the guests and their eleven year old daughter who had never seen a chicken slaughtered before and went inside to find Richie. HE WAS ON HIS PHONE. It was nearly three days before I could speak civilly to him again!
I brought a Spagyu. I wasn’t in the market for any more cattle but my friend had advertised a Longhorn and a Speckle Park cow for sale. The Speckle had a Wagyu calf at foot which was what won me over. Although I am Shorthorn through and through the meat from the Angus-Wagyu, Varina, we had processed a year ago was the best I have ever tasted and I was keen to make my next meal something with Wagyu. Varina has nearly all gone, even the tougher cuts were beautifully textured and marbled and tender if cooked correctly. Nothing special to look at, my Spagyu, but the truth is in the tasting so they say!
As I said to the peacock, “You have one hundred and sixty acres of Peacock Paradise and if you don’t go out and explore your world then you will soon be living in a new one, courtesy of the Pig ’n’ Giggle near Warwick.” We were given a peacock as an early Christmas present by our friend, to be company for the other fowl, a young peahen who identifies as a duck! It wasn’t love at first sight though, unfortunately. The narcissist bird found another love, inhabiting our front veranda and spending all day preening himself in front of the sliding doors.
The Auction. I really can’t believe this is the fifth Rare Breeds Trust annual auction, but here we are again. I have spent a very busy couple of months on this and I am so very grateful for all of the local support I have received, including that from Riverina Stockfeeds, Pursehouse Rural, Ballandean Winery, Kent Saddlery, Bruxners Run, and Darling Downs Zoo. We have a second holiday option this year in Tasmania, as well as the one at my cottage.
Small Farms Magazine and Farmer Direct have come on board again in a big way with four tickets to the AFL game Collingwood vs St Kilda in June. There are so many wonderful items on offer and I would encourage you to take a look, at auctionsplus.com.au/auctions/charity/rare-breeds-trust-of-australia-2025-charity-a/125621. The auction will run from 15 to 21 May.
Finally, one of my favourite days of the year is coming up with the St Mark Anglican Church fete in Warwick on Saturday, 10 May. I will be taking along an assortment of sheep and possibly even a couple of piglets, some unusual salmon Faverolles Poultry, and even Dora has agreed to make an appearance. There will be something for everyone and it’s good to arrive early if you want to buy some of the church ladies baked delights that always sell out quickly. They sure can bake up a storm, those church ladies! Come over and say hello, Dora says she is partial to a bit of cake!
